Censure, Impeachment or Enough Already?

Published: October 1, 1998

To the Editor:

Even if we assume that President Clinton lied in a civil suit and to the grand jury, such transgressions do not constitute subversion of our system (editorial, Sept. 30). They do not rise to the level of ''treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors,'' the test for impeachment.

The President submitted to our system by testifying, in both instances. There are remedies if the lying rises to the legal definition of perjury. If one remedy, indictment, is not available against a sitting President, that does not convert the offense into an impeachable one.

What threatens our system more is the decision of the House to deflect and delay its duty to determine whether alleged offenses are impeachable, by dumping unevaluated prosecutorial testimony on the public and in the process breaching the veil of secrecy that should cover grand jury proceedings.